It was the preliminaries and there were quite a few drops that was unusual as they only showed the top ladies. They wear costumes now and have a kiss and cry couch. I thought I watching skating when they were sitting next to their coaches and waiting for the scores.

It was the preliminaries and there were quite a few drops that was unusual as they only showed the top ladies. They wear costumes now and have a kiss and cry couch. I thought I watching skating when they were sitting next to their coaches and waiting for the scores.

It will be on Saturday on CNBC and then on Sunday on NBC.

Only in rhythmic gym, though...is your coach allowed to judge you...

i remember in sydney, a girl's coach was on the judging panel (she was bulgarian) and she wasn't just her coach- she was also her mom!

I was wrong. It was Ukrainian Yelena Vitrichenko whose coach and mother judged her in the ball (that was the apparatus I remember seeing her in- her mother even blew her a kiss from the judges' table!). I don't think it's a question of having enough judges, but allowing coaches to do both. If you read on in that article, it mentions that a coach was banned from judging for being biased. Ick

I was wrong. It was Ukrainian Yelena Vitrichenko whose coach and mother judged her in the ball (that was the apparatus I remember seeing her in- her mother even blew her a kiss from the judges' table!). I don't think it's a question of having enough judges, but allowing coaches to do both. If you read on in that article, it mentions that a coach was banned from judging for being biased. Ick

Why they let her judge her own daughter to begin with is dumber than a box of rocks. Anybody could see a conflict of interest.

Saw the group final this morning on NBC. I love that event as they do things that are really cool looking with the ribbon, hoop, and ball.

I am still surprised this is an Olympic sport. Why don't they have color guard as a sport at the Olympics? Or cheerleading? This is pretty to watch, but I'm still not understanding this being a "sport."
I can totally see Sasha Cohen doing this sport though. She can do ribbon, is flexible, and has the "attitude." I think she'd excel at this. Does anyone know if she has ever tried it?

I, too, was upset that Kabaeva was 1st in QC as opposed to Tchachina -- Irina was far more consistent, though Alina does indeed have a far more endearing personality. The athlete that I was personally very impressed with is Aliya Yusuppova from Kazakhstan.

BTW, interesting piece if trivia: In Russian, artistic gymnastics is called "athletic gymnastics", and rhythmic gymnastics is called "artistc".

These girls make Sasha look mildly flexible! I'm sure of course that she could have been a rhythmic gymnast if she had the training- she has that kind of a body. I wonder if Sasha and Robin were watching this competition? If they were I guess we can expect to see some 180degree Biellman spirals come next season.

Anyone see Mary Sanders? She has a nice, shapely body, almost like a showgirl. That's rare to see on a gymnast of any kind. Unfortunately it doesn't help her rhythmic gymnastics, I think it suits the skinnier girls with longer lines.

Why they let her judge her own daughter to begin with is dumber than a box of rocks. Anybody could see a conflict of interest.

Saw the group final this morning on NBC. I love that event as they do things that are really cool looking with the ribbon, hoop, and ball.

My best friend, who is a big fan of rhythmic gym explained this to me- apparently, it doesn't matter, since the high/low are thrown out. If Mrs. Vitrichenko overscored Yelena, her score would've been thrown out. Then again, all she would have to do would be to score the second highest in the group...

Imagine if ice dance coaches got to judge their skaters...that would be a scary judges' meeting after the competition! Linichuk would kill Tarasova, finally